Chase Field attendance suffers through D-backs’ first half of season

The Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled to draw fans to Chase Field through a troublesome first half of the season, which left them with a 40-56 record at the All-Star break.

Through their first 48 home games, the organization has an average attendance of 25,013 per game — approximately 53.7 percent of Chase Field’s capacity, which is 49,033.

Only the Miami Marlins have suffered worse attendance among National League clubs in the first half, drawing just 21,497 per home game at Marlins Park, which is good to fill about 57.4 percent of the stadium.

Seven American League teams have averaged lower attendance numbers than the Diamondbacks, including the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics, who have drawn just over 24,000 to their home games, though filling nearly 70 percent of the O.co Coliseum in doing so. The Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians have also drawn fewer fans on average than Arizona, though the teams are all in postseason races. The Tampa Bay Rays’ average attendance of 16,901 per night is baseball’s worst through the first half.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Los Angeles Dodgers lead baseball in attendance by a long shot, averaging 46,487 per game — more than 3,000 fans greater than baseball’s second best-drawing team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Rounding out the top five are the New York Yankees (3), the San Francisco Giants (4) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5). The division-leading Giants keep their stadium, AT&T Park, more full than any other team, averaging 99.2 percent capacity so far.

The reason for the Diamondbacks’ attendance troubles are no mystery, as the team has been as much as 17 games below .500 this season — as recently as July 5 — and hold baseball’s worst home record, with a 17-31 mark that includes two losses at games they hosted in Sydney, Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Returning to Chase Field did the Diamondbacks little good, as they got off to a 1-9 record at the downtown Phoenix venue. They went winless in their first multi-series homestand. They failed to win a home series until their eighth of the season, which came May 16-18 against the Dodgers. They were 4-17 at home before capturing that series.